Can-filling machine



J. C. PORTER CAN FILLING MACHINE.

AP PLlCATION FILED APR.5.19|B.

1 ,3 1 5 ,403 Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEETSSHEET l.

wuemtoz JamwCPorZef. M; ffi flw.

THB COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPN C0-, WASHINGTON. U. C.

J. C. PORTER.

CAN FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 19m.

1,315,403. PatentedSept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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J 3122 as 6? Porter mp mwmnn I'LANIIGPAI'II cn.. wnsumrrrnu n v J. C. PORTER.

CAN FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED'APR- 5. me,

auvemlioz flttozmu Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET a.

Jm e5 6'. Porter. K

1. C. PORTER. CAN FILLING MACHINE. APPLICATION HLED APR. 5. I9l8.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

luuewtoz James C. Portr.

J. C. PORTER.

CAN FILLING MACHINE.

- APPLICATION FILED APR-5.1918.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEETSSHEET 5 w 9 1 Q a 5 x 4 5 1 9 5 z a 1 lwuemtoz J am es 6% Porter,

JAM E's' O. roams, or SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

Univ-FILLING MACHINE.

Application filed 'A ril 5, 1918. Serial No. 226,938.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Lucas C. Ponrniz, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of Seattle, county. of King, and

State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Filling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to can filling machines and particularly to machines em- ;ployed in filling cans with fish, or similar products.

My invention consists of certain improvements in machines of this kind which will be herein described and then. particularly pointed out by the claims. A

The object of my invention isin general to insure a better result in the fillin of the cans, both as to the even and compl ete filling of the cans and also in decreasing the mutilation of the fish. 1 A

One of the specific objects has in View the perfection ofthe device forcutting from the mass the exact amount required for the proper filling of the cans and. the placing of this in the cans in such a way as to insure the solid placing of the fish at the bottom of the cans and the complete expulsion of the air from the bottom of the can.

Further objects of my invention may be seen from a study of the specification and the claims. In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied inthe form of construction which is now most preferred by me. i p

Figure 1 is a front. sectional elevation taken through the filling position of the cans. j 3

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe machine. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is aside elevation of the hopper and the means employed for the filling of the cans. Q

Fig. 5 is the same with the oscillating. isk and fish feeding mechanism removed. Fig. 6 is a section on the line iAA of Figs. 4- and 5.

I Fig. .7 isa section on the line BB of 1 i Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 are sectional elevations taken through the. feeding and filling mechanism, showing these parts different positions. V p f In the macliineasherei-n illustrated, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

which will be particularly described I have illustrated mechanisms for accomplishing certain purposes which mightbe variously modified without in any way affectingthe more essentialfeatures ofmy invention. I have, however, described this mechanism, it being understood that the. means for operating certain of these parts within certain limitations, be varied as desiredjor found suitable, the same being well within the scope of myinventiona r The frame 1,upon which the operating devices are mounted andby whichthey are supported, may be of any suitable construction. It is herein shownashaving a flat top surface 10 upon which the cans are handled. Thecans are fed to a revolving turret 2, having therein notches 20, each of which is adapted to receive a can, the same being surrounded for the greaterpart of its circumference by an inclosing band 21 which prevents the cansimovin away from the center. This turretis of or inary standard "construction and may be replaced by any other suitable type of can feedingmecha- IllSTn.

The shaft 70 of this turret isshown as proi ided with a cam device 22 which is in the general form of a wormsuch asis used for power transmission purposes. The wings of this worm are designed to be: contacted by a roller 23 carried by anarm 24 which is secured to and turns with the main shaft 25. This secures a forward advancing movement of the turret at each revolution of the shaft 25. This forward movement of the machineshown is one-fourth of a circle. The cans are each fed in at the point 11, each being engaged by one ofthe notches 20 in the turret andare' conveyed,g

The hopper 3 discharges intothe upperend of the passage30, which,- in the ma1n,is 1n the shapeof a segment of an annulus. The

upper end of this annulus is carried somewhat above and beyond a lip 31, which forms the downward edge of one side ofthe hopper. This terms a recess into which thefish suitable sized pieces for plaoing'inthecans.

, cutting knife and the fillingpiston.

j its lower end, which tangential extension is covered by a wing 32. This tangential extension 33, merges into the lower portion of the casing 4 in which is mounted the This chambertis herein shownas integrally cast .7 with the hopper 2 and the annular segment "5 30. .fllhisis, however, a question of convenience of construction rather than a necessity :of construction.

.Mountedwithin the cylinder 4 is the filling tube 4:0. This has its lower end edges sharpened toserve as the chief member of thecutting.device. The other member of the cutting device 7 consists of. a ring 11 Whichis-inserted in the lower wall of the tangential extension .33. from the filling chute. The hole in this ring is of a size to exteriorly closely fit thecutting tube 410, so

that when the tube enters the same they will I act:.as tw o members of a shear tocut the fish. Ifthese parts fit accurately and are heptin proper condition, they will cleanly cut through any portions of fish, so that then-mount .of fishwhich is contained within ,the tubular 'knifecwill be cleanly severed 7 from the .other fish.

,. A, sh aft50 is mounted concentric with the annular segment 30. Upon this is secured a disk 5, which covers the opening in the side. face of theannular segment and forms the outer wall thereof. Mounted upon the same shaft, so as to rotate therewith, but in such a manner as to be freely movable lengthwise-of the shaft, is an arm 51, which arm consists of a circular segment and carries four feed pins, two of these, 52, being toward oneedge thereof and the other two,

115,3, being toward the other edge thereof.

:These pins are alike in construction. and

differ onlyslightly in their function and operation. These .pinspass through holes formed in the disk 5, as is clearly seen in -F.ig.--6. The reciprocation of the arm 51 causes zthese pins tobe either withdrawn .from theannular chamber through which the-fish is heing fed, or inserted substantially to the bottom of this chamber.

1 ,With the segment arm 51 in the position in :Fig. 4, the ,twouppermost pins 52 -would hein'position such that when recipro ficatedinwardly, or so as to, project them flthrough the holes in the, disk 5,, they will pass 'hack of the lip 31, and thus enter a spacewvhich is not filled with fish, whereby they will not perforate the fish. It is desir- 1';a;b1e in the handling of the'fish, to prevent mutilation of fish to :the fullest extent e -possiblehilheQthertne :fi g sfifi; whic are at the lower side of the arm 51, would be passed through whatever particles of fish would be in their path.

With the arm 51 in its inner position, which is close to the disk 5, the pins 52 and 53 are inserted into the annular chamber into which the fish is placed. If the shaft be rocked so as to swing the arm 51 downward and under the shaft, it will force whalever portions of the fish are engaged by these pins, downward and into the filling chamber. If this movement be made as a continuous reciprocating and oscillating movement, the supply of fish to the filling chamber will be maintained constant and the fish will be positively forced into this chamberso as to insure its being maintained full, and consequently, a proper filling of the cans.

, i. I The arm 51 is mountedupon the shaft by means of a key and feather, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The hub of the arm 51 is provided with a groove 54, in

whichis placed a yoke 55, which yoke is engaged by the yoke end of an arm, 56, which is pivoted at 57 and which is oscillated through a link, 58, which link is connected with arm 59 pivotally supported at one endnpon the frame and at its other end carrying a cam roller 19, which enters a cam groove 18 in the side face of the disk This disk is mounted upon the main shaft 25 and the cam groove is so proportioned that it will cause one reciprocating movement of the link 58 at each revolution.

The oscillation of the shaft is secured through the iconnectionof an arm, 17. carried at one end thereof, with a link 46. This link is similarly actuated from the cam groove 61 in the face of a disk 6. also upon the shaft 25. This is designed to cause one oscillation of the shaft 50 at each rotation of the shaft 25.

To insure a certain flexibility, or give, in

' the movement of the arm 51. which would be required because of the possibilitv that themovement might otherwise be more th an .was necessary to insure the placing of the proper amount of fish in the filling chamber. I'have inserted a yielding element in the actuating means for this shaft. This yielding element, as shown, consists of a spring 15, which is carried by the link 4-6. which link is mounted so that it is free to have a reciprocating.movement within the block -48.

which is directly pivoted upon the end of v the arm 47 link 46 and the pivot block 48, so that the feeding movement is conveyed through the ar n e an l ar in ma yi l n me the filling chamber is too fullto receive all of the fish which might otherwise be fed thereto. i

The means for operating the cutting knife 40 are as follows: To the upper end of the tube 40 is secured a pinion 42. This pinion mesheswith the gear 7, which is long enough to maintain engagement during the reciprocation of the tube 40. This gear is secured upon a shaft 70 "which at its lower end carries the Worm of cam 22, whichfis actuated by means of the cam roller 23 carried by the rotating arm 24. In consequence of theintermittent movement of the worm 22 by the arm 24, the pinion 42'will be given a turning movement and cause a turning of the tubular knife 40.

connected with the central portion of the lever 73 and at its lower end isprovided with a yoke 76 which spans theshaft25, to

thus prevent a side swlnging movement. A cam roller 77, carried by this link, enters a cam groove 78 formed in the side face of the disk 6. This cam groove is so shaped as to produce one reciprocationfor each revolution of the disk. In this manner the tubular knife 40 is reciprocated to cut'the desired amount of fish for insertion into the can. It is thus seen that the tubular kn fe is given a rotative movement through its connection with the gear 7 and at the same time a reciprocating movement through the links 73 and 75. The action of the cutting edge of the knife upon thefish isthus a sliding movement or draw out, and its cutting action is thus'i111p1"oved.

.Vithin the tubular knife 4L0 is the filling piston 8. This is mounted to reciprocate freely within the knife. It does not, however, turn with the knife. Its action would, however. be the same in effect whether it did or did not turn. This piston has a stem 80 which extends through a bore centrally placed in the spool 71. The outer end of this stem connects with a lever 81 and the opposite end of this lever is supported from a link 82 which, at its lower end,j ispivotally connected with the frame.

A link 83,is.connected with the lever 81 and at its. lower end isprovided with a yoke 84, which spans the shaft 25 and carries a. cam roller. 85 which enters. a cam groove formed. in the of been filled with fish!" The knife 60. This causes one"reciprocation of the piston 8 for each revolution of the shaft 25. The chamber Which forms an extension of both the segmental filled chamber 30 and the tubular knife 40;.has a removable bottom which is in place while the chamber is being filled and which is removed when the filling charge of fish has been severed from the main mass and when the in the cans. This bottom, as herein illustrated, consists of two plates 9 which are pivoteduponaledge or bracket 90 and they extend side side under the tube 4. The upper surface of thesetwo plates 9 engage the loiver edge of the ring 451. The outer end of the two plates 9 are provided with toothed segments 91, which intermesh; so that the two are compelled to move in unison and oppositely, when swung upon. their pivots 92. t y i 1 One of these platescarries an arm 93, which has a link 94 connected therewith, this link beingconnectedwvith one end of a lever 95 which is pivoted at 96 s am the frame and which at itsother' end carries a cam roller 97, which engages ,Wjth the pe riphery of the disk 60. This disk has a raised portion 62, so that it is given one reciprocation at each rotation of thedisk. This causes the two plates 9 to swmg *away from each other andthus to remove the retainingbottom I of the feeding chamber. so that the material contained therein maybe ejected into the cans.

In Fig. l the parts areshown in the position occupied when the knife and the piston are in their uppermost position. In this position the ehamberbeneath the knife has then'goes down with a rotary movement.

Fig. 8 shows the position occupied bythe parts ,when the knife begins to strikethe fish. The piston- 8 may or may not follow proper time comes forinserting the same up with the knife anddees not advance be- 1 j ondth eposition shown in FiggSuntil the cutting edgeof the*knifeenters the ring 41, that is, until tl efisli to fill one can has been severed fron'ifthemaln mass! Fig. 9

prevent discharge of the fish. At this point the inechanisrnf for controlling these plates shows thisfposition of thep'arts The two jiplates'9 are shown asheld in place beneath the knifeQjThey have'acted to support and is actuated to swing them awayfrom each other to thuspermit discharge of the fish. A can 15 has been placed in position to re ceive its supply offishi" The tubular knife 10 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the can and gfreelyenters the can? at this-time occupying the position sliown in Fig410. Thepistoii movement bf theknife and; the g .beforced out of the tube.

piston change in such manner as to cause 7 sequence, the fish is forced against the bottom of the can and the air has an opportunity to escape through the space between thetubular knife and the can. As the tubularknife is raised the piston 8 is forced .dOWIliasufficientjamount to insure that the fish be well seated uponthe bottom of the can and belowthe top surface thereof. This position of the parts is shown in Fig. 11. The knife andthe. piston are then both raised to thepoint where the space occupied thereby maybe filled with fish for the next can. At the same time the two plates or gates 9- are swung toward each other so as to .stop the opening through which the fish is discharged.

What I claim as my invention is:

' '1. In a can filling machine, a tube having an end cutting edge located upon its outer periphery, a material receiving chamber having an opening the margin of which is adapted to act as a cutting. member complemental to saidtube, means for reciprocating said tube through said opening, means normally closing said opening, means for removing saidclosingmeans just in advance of the arrival of the tube, means for presenting cans to receive the projected end of the tube, and means for ejecting the material from the tube as it is withdrawn from the can. .7 v

,2. A canjfillingmachine comprising a tube having end cutting edges and adapted to serve as a device for determining the amount .of-material .for filling a can, means for reciprocating the tube to carry it through and to project it beyond a mass of the ma- .iterial, means for presenting a can in position-to receive the tube after it has thus re ceived a filling charge and means for rejecting the material from the tube as the -.tube is withdrawn from the can to thereby f l the can. i

BIA can filling machine comprising a tubular knife having end cutting edges, a chamber into which the material is fed, said chamber having opposite walls provided with holesthrough which .said knife is mounted; to reciprocate, means for presenting cans to receive the knife after it has passedthrough' said chamber, and means for expelling the contents of said knife as it is withdrawn from the cans.

' I "4. A canfilling machine comprising 'a' tubular knife having end cutting edges, a chamber into which the material is fed, said chamber having opposite walls provided with'holes, through which said knife is mounted-to reciprocate, means for presenting cans to receive the knife after t has passed through said chamber, a piston within sald knife and means for operating said piston to expel the contents of the knife 'for the material, means for forming a mass of the material of a regular and determined thickness, means for reciprocating said tubular knife through said mass to separate therefrom a quantity to fill a can, means for positioning a can to receive the filled knife, and means for expelling the contents of the knife as it is withdrawn from the can.

6. In a can filling machine, a filling pocket having a semicylindrical bottom, a tubular knife guided by said bottom and having end cutting edges, means for reciprocating said knife lengthwise of and through said pocket, means for giving said knife a progressive turning movement with each reciprocation, and means for ejecting the contents of said tube during its withdrawal into the pocket.

7. In a can filling machine, a tubular filling pocket open at one side, a tubular knife having end cutting edges and reciprocating in said pocket as a guide, a cutting ring surrounding the lower end of said pocket and cooperating with said knife, means for reciprocating said knife to project it well through said ring, means for giving the knife a turning movement during its cutting stroke, and means for ejecting the contents of said tube at the beginning of its return movement.

8. In a. can filling machine, a filling pocket having a 'semicylindrical bottom surface and a, discharge opening at one end, a tusharpened to act as a knife, means for reciprocating said tube, means for turning said tube during its advancing movement, a ring at the bottom end of the filling pocket adapted to cooperate with the cutting edge of the tube to sever the material, and movable plates adapted to alternately close and open the orifice of said ring.

7,10. A can filling machine comprising a tubular member mounted to reciprocate and having an end edge sharpened to form a knife, a piston mounted to reciprocate with and in said tube, a filling pocket through which said other members reciprocate, means for intermittently closing the exit opening for said tube and means for placing an empty can in position for receiving the tube after it passes through said exit openmg. a

11. A device as in claim 10 having the outer diameter of the tube enough smaller than the inner diameter of the can to permit free escape of the air therefrom.

12. In a device as in claim 10, means for separately reciprocating the tube and the piston to cause the movement of the piston to lag behind the movement of the tube.

13. In a can filling machine, a filling pocket, meansfor intermittently forcing the material into said pocket, a tubular filling lmife having end cutting edges and mounted to reciprocate through said pocket, a discharging piston within the tube, a movable gate adapted to close the opening from the filling pocket through which the tubular knife projects, means for supplying a can to receive the projected end of said knife and means for cooperatively securing the successive movements of said parts.

14. In a can filling machine, a supply hopper, a filling pocket and transfer passage connecting the two, said passage having one open side, a closing plate for said open side mounted to reciprocate between the hopper and the filling pocket and feeding fingers mounted to reciprocate through and with said plate.

15. In a can filling machine, a supply hopper, a filling pocket and an arcuate transfer passage connecting the two, said transfer passage having one side open, a plate covering said open side and mounted to oscillate about the central axis of said passage, feeding fingers passing through said plate and reciprocating therewith, and means for reciprocating said fingers in an axial direction to withdraw them from the transfer passage on the return movement of the plate and to then insert them for the feeding movement.

16. A feeding device for can filling machines comprising a transfer passage having an open side, means for supplying fish to one end of said passage, said end having a flange extending inward to maintain an open or unfilled space behind it, a plate covering the open side and reciprocating lengthwise the passage, feeding fingers movable laterally with said plate and also lengthwise to insert them in the open space behind said flange and to withdraw them at the other receiving the material from said transfer passage, a shaft occupying the axis of said arcuate passage, a plate secured to the shaft and covering the side opening of the transfer passage, an arm mounted to turn with and slide lengthwise upon the shaft, feeding pins carried by said arm and passing through said plate into the transfer passage, means for oscillating said shaft and means for reciprocating said pins lengthwise of the shaft.

18. A can filling machine having a reciprocable tube provided with end cutting. edges of the can which is to be filled, and means I for forcing the material out of said tube and into the can as the tube is withdrawn from the can.

Signed at Seattle, day of March, 1918.

JAMES C. PORTER.

Washington, this 29th Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

